Quote:
Originally Posted by pedronekoi
I'm pretty sure she is aware that her career and music is only appreciated by her old fans nowadays. Her sound and image are far from youth's taste. And that's okay. The main issue is that her old fans are so nostalgic with her career that they have the need to compare her actual work to her golden era (fame-wise and voice-wise) all the time. That time will never come back, Japan was another country, the internet was still growing, Ayu was a different person, etc etc. So everytime people complains about her being not famous anymore, not beng respected as an artist anymore, being a joke and stuff like that is the same discussion about what could she do to change that. Honestly, she can't do a thing about it (and I'm sure she's not willing to do that). Japan won't love her again, she won't have a peak out of nowhere, that's the truth. As long as the fans keep supporting her, she won't be over...
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The thing is, if people are actually taking their time to bash her every single move, she still is pretty famous (not comparing the them as artists, but think Sandy or Madonna for an international referece, whose recent releases all tanked but still have pretty much a megastar recognization)
About being respected as an artist, this is relative. Other artists seens to respect her as a musician and icon, legends like Yoshiki watch her tours, newer acts take her (sometimes way too much) as an inspiration and some of her recent movie tie-ins were all based on her status as an artist...
Her back catalogue still puts her among the most downloaded acts in Japan when she is about to celebrate her 20th anni and her lastest real hit is over 10 years old, she still sells out larger tours than people who peaked after her (even some "queen of live").
Even if her numbers aren't as impressive as they once were, they are still pretty impressive for someone on her position. That's why she isn't losing her sleep over the haters.
She is a polarizing figure and an aging popstar, one of those most likely everyone will become the biggest fan ever overnight once she dies (what I hope only happens in 200 years from now)